[SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

starman · 2023-07-10 21:15:26

So I just installed Gentoo along XFCE desktop and I'm having trouble with xfce4-power-manager since there doesn't seem to be any option to adjust the brightness
The option to control the brightness with the keys is also missing from the power manager settings.

I have no idea what could be causing this since this is a fresh install.

This is the output of the "xfce4-power-manager --dump" command:

---------------------------------------------------
       Xfce power manager version 4.18.1
Without policykit support
Without network manager support
---------------------------------------------------
Can suspend: False
Can hibernate: False
Authorized to suspend: True
Authorized to hibernate: True
Authorized to shutdown: False
Has battery: True
Has brightness panel: False
Has power button: True
Has hibernate button: True
Has sleep button: True
Has LID: True

And this is the output of "ls /sys/class/backlight/"

$ ls /sys/class/backlight/
amdgpu_bl0

Any Idea what could be wrong?

Last edited by starman (2023-07-11 12:36:50)

ToZ · 2023-07-10 22:20:26

Hello and welcome.

Can you tell us a little bit about your system? Make/model, video card(s) and video drivers currently being used?

Also, run xfce4-power-manager in debug mode and post back the output:

xfce4-power-manager -q
xfce4-power-manager --no-daemon --debug

starman · 2023-07-10 22:56:29

Thanks in advance for replying.

My PC(laptop) is a ACER Aspire 3 A315-21 series

The CPU is a AMD A6-9220 RADEON R4 (Dual-core)

My Video card is an AMD ATI Radeon R4/R5 Graphics(Integrated graphics)

the video driver is the "amdgpu" drivers

And this is the output of the "xfce4-power-manager --no-daemon --debug" command

TRACE[xfpm-main.c:210] xfpm_start(): Starting the power manager

(xfce4-power-manager:3154): xfce4-power-manager-WARNING **: 00:43:30.754: Unable to connect to session manager : No ha podido conectar con el gestor de sesiones: SESSION_MANAGER environment variable not defined
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for general-notification
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for lock-screen-suspend-hibernate
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for critical-power-level
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for show-brightness-popup
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for handle-brightness-keys
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-step-count
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-exponential
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for show-tray-icon
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for critical-power-action
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for power-button-action
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for hibernate-button-action
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for sleep-button-action
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for battery-button-action
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for lid-action-on-ac
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for lid-action-on-battery
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-level-on-ac
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-level-on-battery
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-slider-min-level
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-enabled
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-on-ac-sleep
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-on-ac-off
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-on-battery-sleep
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-on-battery-off
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for dpms-sleep-mode
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for inactivity-on-ac
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for inactivity-on-battery
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for inactivity-sleep-mode-on-ac
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for inactivity-sleep-mode-on-battery
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-on-ac
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for brightness-on-battery
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for logind-handle-power-key
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for logind-handle-suspend-key
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for logind-handle-hibernate-key
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for logind-handle-lid-switch
TRACE[xfpm-xfconf.c:166] xfpm_xfconf_load(): Using default configuration for heartbeat-command
TRACE[xfpm-dpms.c:72] xfpm_dpms_set_timeouts(): Settings dpms: standby=600 suspend=0 off=900


(xfce4-power-manager:3154): libnotify-WARNING **: 00:43:30.784: Failed to connect to proxy
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:929] xfpm_power_get_power_devices(): Power device detected at : /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_ACAD
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:888] xfpm_power_add_device(): 'line-power' device added
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:929] xfpm_power_get_power_devices(): Power device detected at : /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT1
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:888] xfpm_power_add_device(): 'battery' device added
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:897] xfpm_power_add_device(): Battery device type 'battery' detected at: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT1
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 124 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_POWER_OFF)

(xfce4-power-manager:3154): xfce4-power-manager-WARNING **: 00:43:30.847: could not map keysym 1008ffa8 to keycode

TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 213 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_HIBERNATE)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 150 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_SLEEP)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 233 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_MON_BRIGHTNESS_UP)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 232 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_MON_BRIGHTNESS_DOWN)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 244 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_BATTERY)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 238 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_KBD_BRIGHTNESS_UP)
TRACE[xfpm-button.c:180] xfpm_button_xevent_key(): Grabbed key 237 : ((XfpmButtonKey) BUTTON_KBD_BRIGHTNESS_DOWN)
TRACE[xfpm-dpms.c:72] xfpm_dpms_set_timeouts(): Settings dpms: standby=300 suspend=0 off=600

TRACE[xfpm-dpms.c:347] xfpm_dpms_set_on_battery(): dpms on battery TRUE
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:1449] xfpm_update_blank_time(): Prev Timeout: 600 / New Timeout: 600
TRACE[xfpm-power.c:1449] xfpm_update_blank_time(): Prev Timeout: 600 / New Timeout: 600
TRACE[xfpm-manager.c:650] xfpm_manager_inhibit_sleep_systemd(): Inhibiting systemd sleep: handle-power-key:handle-suspend-key:handle-hibernate-key:handle-lid-switch

** (xfce4-power-manager:3154): WARNING **: 00:43:30.859: No outputs have backlight property

(xfce4-power-manager:3154): xfce4-power-manager-WARNING **: 00:43:30.860: Failed to get keyboard max brightness level : GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod: Object does not exist at path “/org/freedesktop/UPower/KbdBacklight”

ToZ · 2023-07-11 00:43:38

Has brightness panel: False

It's interesting that xfce4-power-manager isn't seeing a brightness panel on your device.

$ ls /sys/class/backlight/
amdgpu_bl0

If you echo a value into /sys/class/backlight/amdgpu_bl0/brightness (between 0 and the value in max_brightness), does the backlight change?

Is there anything in your bios (or maybe in the graphics driver config) about brightness - maybe an option to disable a forced setting or allow legacy control?

Can I also see:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv

starman · 2023-07-11 00:56:25

echoing a value into brightness did indeed change the backlight.
As for the bios, i never changed anything except device order

Also the last command did not output anything

ToZ · 2023-07-11 01:23:06

starman wrote:

Also the last command did not output anything

That should return the current settings. Do you have xfconf installed and running?

Also, have you built/installed xrandr?

starman · 2023-07-11 07:26:24

Sorry for the really late reply.

Yes i do have xfconf installed and reinstalled it just in case. The command still gives no output

And xrandr gives the following output:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP connected primary 1366x768+0+0 344mm x 193mm
   1366x768      60.00*+
HDMI-A-0 disconnected
DisplayPort-0 disconnected

ToZ · 2023-07-11 10:29:23

I'm not that familiar with gentoo and the build process, so I wonder if something is askew there. The problem is that Xfce is not recognizing a valid brightness interface (even though you seem to have one). It uses libxrandr for this.

The empty xfconf-query command is also worrisome. Can you start Settings Manager > Settings Editor and look to see if you gave an xfce4-power-manager channel? If so, can you post back a screenshot like:

starman · 2023-07-11 10:45:19

here is the image

i dont know how to use the forums yet.

Last edited by starman (2023-07-11 10:46:38)

ToZ · 2023-07-11 11:04:54

Ok, you do have an xfce4-power-manager channel with settings. Not sure why that command didn't work (did you maybe run it as root?).

What do the following return:

xfpm-power-backlight-helper --get-brightness
xfpm-power-backlight-helper --get-max-brightness
xfpm-power-backlight-helper --get-brightness-switch

If the first returns a value, try adjusting it using:

pkexec xfpm-power-backlight-helper --set-brightness XX

...where XX is a different value between 0 and the result of the second command.

starman · 2023-07-11 11:44:39

ToZ wrote:

Not sure why that command didn't work (did you maybe run it as root?).

I just realized i did run it as root, my mistake.
output

$ xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv
/xfce4-power-manager/blank-on-battery       0
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled           false
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-off    23
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-sleep  0
/xfce4-power-manager/presentation-mode      false
/xfce4-power-manager/show-tray-icon         false

Also

$ xfpm-power-backlight-helper
bash: xfpm-power-backlight-helper: command not found

I guess that might be the problem? though i think the package is for debian only, so i doubt its that

Last edited by starman (2023-07-11 11:48:05)

starman · 2023-07-11 12:36:15

i solved the problem. i had to set a use flag like this:

USE="policykit panel-plugin"

ill mark this as solved.

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#1 2023-07-10 21:15:26

[SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#2 2023-07-10 22:20:26

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#3 2023-07-10 22:56:29

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#4 2023-07-11 00:43:38

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#5 2023-07-11 00:56:25

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#6 2023-07-11 01:23:06

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#7 2023-07-11 07:26:24

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#8 2023-07-11 10:29:23

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#9 2023-07-11 10:45:19

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#10 2023-07-11 11:04:54

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#11 2023-07-11 11:44:39

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

#12 2023-07-11 12:36:15

Re: [SOLVED] XFCE power manager doesn't have any brightness options

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